God Wants Your Burdens

PRAY OVER THIS

“Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.”

Jeremiah 24:7

 

PONDER THIS

I read about a man who had a very fine dog. He’d trained the dog quite well, and the dog loved to play in the water. The dog was out in the lake, and the man wanted to go, so he called the dog, but the dog wouldn’t come. He called him several times. He still wouldn’t come. So, the man said, “I know what I’ll do,” and he got a stick, and threw it out in the water. When the dog saw it, he swam over, got the stick, came back, and laid it at his master’s feet.

It may be that God has given you a burden because He can’t get your attention. It may be that God has given you a burden so that you might come and lay it at your Master’s feet, “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). If you are a broken brother, there’s hope for you; a fallen sister, there’s hope. And if you are a spiritual person, there’s a responsibility for you. If your heart is aching and breaking, there’s a Savior who loves you. Cast your burden upon the Lord. He’ll sustain you when you need it most.

When has a burden brought you back to remembering your need for God?

Who do you need to share this hope with?

PRACTICE THIS

Write down some of the difficulties you have struggled with and describe how God has worked in those situations.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Seminary of Suffering

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

This is God’s universal purpose for all Christian suffering: more contentment in God and less reliance on self and the world. I have never heard anyone say, “The really deep lessons of life have come through times of ease and comfort.”

But I have heard strong saints say, “Every significant advance I have ever made in grasping the depths of God’s love and growing deep with him has come through suffering.”

The pearl of greatest price is the glory of Christ.

Thus, Paul stresses that in our sufferings the glory of Christ’s all-sufficient grace is magnified. If we rely on him in our calamity, and he sustains our “rejoicing in hope,” then he is shown to be the all-satisfying God of grace and strength that he is.

If we hold fast to him, “when all around our soul gives way,” then we show that he is more to be desired than all we have lost.

Christ said to the suffering apostle, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul responded to this: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

So suffering clearly is designed by God not only as a way to wean Christians off of self and onto grace, but also as a way to spotlight that grace and make it shine. That is precisely what faith does: it magnifies Christ’s future grace.

The deep things of life in God are discovered and magnified in suffering.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Ezekiel 11:19-20

[19] And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, [20] that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Jeremiah 30:22

    [22] And you shall be my people,

        and I will be your God.”

Joel 2:12-13

    [12] “Yet even now,” declares the LORD,

        “return to me with all your heart,

    with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 

    [13]     and rend your hearts and not your garments.”

    Return to the LORD your God,

        for he is gracious and merciful,

    slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;

        and he relents over disaster.

Deuteronomy 30:6

[6] And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

Restoration in Your Community

PRAY OVER THIS

“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16

 

PONDER THIS

Ms. Bertha Smith, a Christian missionary, and Dr. Charlie Culpepper, a seminary professor, were both a part of the Great Shantung Revival in China. Both said that, for a time, the missionaries on the field had been in conflict with one another over petty things. But it was not until they began to confess their faults one to another, pray one for another, ask for forgiveness, and reconcile, that a great and mighty revival was set loose. I believe a revival can take place like that today. In businesses, schools, churches, and communities. When people begin to believe in the Bible—the Word of God—and practice it, they are set free.

So, here is your question: Is there anybody that you’re harboring hate toward or carrying a grudge over? Is there bitterness in your heart? In the name of Jesus, deal with it. If you don’t, you have destroyed the bridge over which you yourself must travel.

How has forgiveness brought healing in your life?

Who are some people in your faith community you need to reconcile with?

PRACTICE THIS

Confess your sin, and pray with another brother or sister in Christ.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Danger of Drifting

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1)

We all know people that this has happened to. There is no urgency. No vigilance. No focused listening or considering or fixing of their eyes on Jesus. And the result has not been a standing still, but a drifting away.

That is the point here: there is no standing still. The life of this world is not a lake. It is a river. And it is flowing downward to destruction. If you do not listen earnestly to Jesus and consider him daily and fix your eyes on him hourly, then you will not stand still; you will go backward. You will float away from Christ.

Drifting is a deadly thing in the Christian life. And the remedy for it, according to Hebrews 2:1, is: Pay close attention to what you have heard. That is, consider what God is saying in his Son Jesus. Fix your eyes on what God is saying and doing in the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

This is not a hard swimming stroke to learn. The only thing that keeps us from swimming against sinful culture is not the difficulty of the stroke, but our sinful desire to go with the flow.

Let’s not complain that God has given us a hard job. Listen, consider, fix the eyes — this is not what you would call a hard job description. In fact, it is not a job description. It is a solemn invitation to be satisfied in Jesus so that we do not get lured downstream by deceitful desires.

If you are drifting today, one of the signs of hope that you are born again is that you feel pricked for this, and you feel a rising desire to turn your eyes on Jesus and consider him and listen to him in the days and months and years to come.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Hebrews 10:28-29

[28] Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. [29] How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

Hebrews 12:25

[25] See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.

Hebrews 1:1-4

The Supremacy of God’s Son

[1] Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, [2] but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. [3] He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, [4] having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Mark 16:20

[20] And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.]]

Do You Need to Reconcile?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

 

PONDER THIS

I had a brother in Christ that I loved very much and still do love very much. He wronged me, and there was anger that rose up in me that said, “I’m finished with him. I can’t trust him. He’s been dishonest.” As I paused and reflected, I thought, now why should I do that? I love this man. He is a brother. I refuse to let his mistake ruin what has been a good relationship. I prayed about it, gave it to God, and went and restored the relationship.

You may ask, “What if the person who has wronged me is not a follower of Christ?” Well, he or she is still a potential brother or sister in Christ. If that person is not a follower of Jesus and if you have an unforgiving spirit toward him or her, what chance do you have to bring that person to Christ? Would you let a sense of revenge cut off an opportunity to bring a person to the Lord Jesus Christ? That person is more than a person who has hurt you; he or she is a person who needs you.

Who have you been tempted to cut out of your life? Why?

How is God calling you to take part in His ministry of reconciliation?

PRACTICE THIS

Think about a person you have been tempted to give up on. Pray about it, and make the first step toward reconciliation as you are led.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Sin, Satan, Sickness, or Sabotage

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:8–9)

Is the suffering that comes to the Christian because of persecution the same as the suffering that comes from cancer? Do the promises given to one apply to the other? My answer is yes. All of life, if it is lived earnestly by faith in the pursuit of God’s glory and the salvation of others, will meet with some kind of obstacle and suffering. The suffering that comes to the obedient Christian is part of the price of living where you are in obedience to the call of God.

In choosing to follow Christ in the way he directs, we choose all that this path includes under his sovereign providence. Thus, all suffering that comes in the path of obedience is suffering with Christ and for Christ — whether it is cancer at home or persecution far away.

And it is “chosen” — that is, we willingly take the path of obedience where the suffering befalls us, and we do not murmur against God. We may pray — as Paul did — that the suffering be removed (2 Corinthians 12:8); but if God wills, we embrace it as part of the cost of discipleship in the path of obedience on the way to heaven.

All experiences of suffering in the path of Christian obedience, whether from persecution or sickness or accident, have this in common: They all threaten our faith in the goodness of God, and tempt us to leave the path of obedience.

Therefore, every triumph of faith, and all perseverance in obedience, are testimonies to the goodness of God and the preciousness of Christ — whether the enemy is sickness, Satan, sin, or sabotage. Therefore, all suffering, of every kind, that we endure in the path of our Christian calling is a suffering “with Christ” and “for Christ.”

With him in the sense that the suffering comes to us as we are walking with him by faith, and in the sense that it is endured in the strength he supplies through his sympathizing high-priestly ministry to us (Hebrews 4:15).

And for him in the sense that the suffering tests and proves our allegiance to his goodness and power, and in the sense that it reveals his worth as an all-sufficient compensation and prize.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Isaiah 43:2

    [2] When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

        and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

    when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

        and the flame shall not consume you. 

    

Isaiah 40:29

    [29] He gives power to the faint,

        and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Philippians 4:13

[13] I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

1 Corinthians 2:5

[5] so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

We Need to Restore Broken Christians

PRAY OVER THIS

“Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” Galatians 6:1

 

PONDER THIS

Growing up, one of the things I loved to do with my brother was collect coconuts to sell. We learned how to climb coconut trees like monkeys to reach the leaves. One day, I was up in a tall coconut tree. I had my left arm around a palm frond, and my right hand was disconnecting a coconut when that palm frond broke. I did not look closely enough to see that it was a dying frond. When it broke, I fell about thirty feet. I fell on the grass, but my left arm fell on the sidewalk. As you can imagine, it was a bad situation.

As I was lying there, having fallen because of my own carelessness, what did I need from my brother? I didn’t need a lecture. I didn’t need my brother to ignore me and walk away. I didn’t need my brother to go around and say, “Did you hear about Adrian? He fell out of a coconut tree.” I had that arm in a sling for a while, and it healed just a little crooked. But I can use it because I got what I needed—somebody to realize that I’d fallen. I needed somebody to come and help me. What do we do with broken brothers and sisters in Christ? We help restore them in the name of Jesus.

How are you tempted to react when you hear about another person’s struggle?

How has someone cared for you when you felt like you had fallen far from God?

PRACTICE THIS

Extend love and restoration to someone in your community who has been rejected.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Radical Recompense

“Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Mark 10:29–30)

What Jesus means here is that he himself makes up for every sacrifice.

If you give up a mother’s nearby affection and concern, you get back one hundred times the affection and concern from the ever-present Christ.

If you give up the warm comradeship of a brother, you get back one hundred times the warmth and comradeship of Christ.

If you give up the sense of at-homeness you had in your house, you get back one hundred times the comfort and security of knowing that your Lord owns every house.

To prospective missionaries, Jesus says, “I promise to work for you, and be for you, so much that you will not be able to speak of having sacrificed anything.”

What was Jesus’s attitude to Peter’s “sacrificial” spirit? Peter said, “We have left everything and followed you” (Mark 10:28). Is this the spirit of “self-denial” commended by Jesus? No, it is rebuked.

Jesus said to Peter, “No one ever sacrifices anything for me that I do not pay back a hundredfold — yes, in one sense even in this life, not to mention eternal life in the age to come.”

John Piper 

Bible Study

James 5:19-20

[19] My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, [20] let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Romans 15:1-2

The Example of Christ

[1] We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. [2] Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

2 Timothy 2:24-26

[24] And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, [25] correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, [26] and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Psalm 141:5

    [5] Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;

        let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head;

        let my head not refuse it.

    Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.

Deity Of Choice

There Is Only One God

All Others Are False gods

Definition of Deity- Supreme being-God-All Powerful-Exalted-Godhead

Consider these verses carefully.

Savor them for what they are, the truth they bring to those who search.

These words will bring life or death. 

These words are active cutting through to your core.

Is that core based on the belief that Christ is able?

He came here to save your soul from hell.

Bow before His throne of grace.

Exodus 3:13-14

[13] Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” [14] God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

1 Peter 1:3-5

Born Again to a Living Hope

[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [4] to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, [5] who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

John 1:18

[18] No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

1 Corinthians 8:3-6

[3] But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

[4] Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” [5] For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—[6] yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

God on false gods

Jeremiah 10:11-16

[11] Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”

    [12] It is he who made the earth by his power,

        who established the world by his wisdom,

        and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. 

    [13] When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

        and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.

    He makes lightning for the rain,

        and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses. 

    [14] Every man is stupid and without knowledge;

        every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,

    for his images are false,

        and there is no breath in them. 

    [15] They are worthless, a work of delusion;

        at the time of their punishment they shall perish. 

    [16] Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,

        for he is the one who formed all things,

    and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;

        the LORD of hosts is his name.

The Son Of God-The Christ

Colossians 2:9

[9] For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

Colossians 1:15-20

The Preeminence of Christ

[15] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. [16] For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. [17] And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. [18] And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. [19] For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, [20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

John 1:14

[14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Colossians 2:18-19

[18] Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, [19] and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

Colossians 2:13-14

[13] And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, [14] by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Forgive Others Because Jesus Forgave You

PRAY OVER THIS

“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

Ephesians 4:32

 

PONDER THIS

Think of someone who has wronged you. If you are harboring a hurt in your heart, I want to give you a compelling reason why you ought to forgive that individual. We ought to forgive one another because God has so willingly forgiven us. We owed a debt we could never repay, and God, in the riches of His mercy, forgave us. If God has forgiven us, then we ought to forgive others.

I received a letter some time ago from a woman who was in the hospital in Memphis. She was from Rome, Georgia and she said, “I was away from home, and I needed surgery. Some young men from your church, who did not even know me, came to the hospital and donated blood on my behalf and left a note.” The note said, “We gave our blood for you because Jesus gave His blood for us.” Wasn’t that beautiful? In forgiveness, God has not called us to do anything He has not already done for us. I want to extend forgiveness to you because Jesus forgave me.

How have you been changed by someone’s forgiveness?

How has Christ’s forgiveness changed the way you forgive other people?

PRACTICE THIS

If possible and appropriate, speak to a person who has wronged you and make steps toward reconciliation.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Possible with God

“I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.” (John 10:16)

God has a people in every people group in the world. He will call them through the gospel with Creator power. And they will believe! What a power is in these words for overcoming discouragement in the hard places of the frontiers!

The story of Peter Cameron Scott is a good illustration. Born in Glasgow in 1867, Scott became the founder of the Africa Inland Mission. But his beginnings in Africa were anything but auspicious.

His first trip to Africa ended in a severe attack of malaria that sent him home. He resolved to return after he recuperated. This return was especially gratifying to him because this time his brother John joined him. But before long, John was struck down by fever.

All alone, Peter buried his brother in African soil, and in the agony of those days recommitted himself to preach the gospel in Africa. Yet his health gave way again, and he had to return to England.

How would he ever pull out of the desolation and depression of those days? He had pledged himself to God. But where could he find the strength to go back to Africa? With man it was impossible!

He found strength in Westminster Abbey. David Livingstone’s tomb is still there. Scott entered quietly, found the tomb, and knelt in front of it to pray. The inscription reads:

OTHER SHEEP I HAVE WHICH ARE NOT OF THIS FOLD; THEM ALSO I MUST BRING.

He rose from his knees with a new hope. He returned to Africa. And today, over a hundred years later, the mission he founded is a vibrant, growing force for the gospel in Africa.

If your greatest joy is to experience the infilling grace of God overflowing from you for the good of others, then the best news in all the world is that God will do the impossible through you for the salvation of the unreached peoples.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Acts 28:28

[28] Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

 

Ephesians 2:13-18

[13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. [14] For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility [15] by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, [16] and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. [17] And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. [18] For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Matthew 8:11-12

[11] I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, [12] while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

”

Philippians 2:4-11

[4] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Failing to Give God Glory

PRAY OVER THIS

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

 

PONDER THIS

Why did God make you? To know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him. If you’ve not known Him, loved Him, and served Him, you’ve been walking on God’s Earth, eating God’s food, using God’s sunshine, breathing God’s air, and not returning to God that which is His—glory.

Man’s basic problem is not that he’s a sinner because of what he has done. Man’s basic problem is what he has not done by failing to give God glory. Now, this may not seem as bad as other sins like murder or stealing, but sin isn’t always as it appears on the surface. Consider if you had to choose between a mountain of garbage and a teaspoonful of tasteless but deadly poison. One of those looks worse than the other, but the lesser of the two is more dangerous. The great sin is the sin of unbelief. It is the crowning sin, and it is proof of man’s wickedness.

How have you been guilty of taking credit for yourself instead of giving glory to God?

How does unbelief keep us from giving God glory?

PRACTICE THIS

Praise God today for all that He is doing in your life. Share your testimony of God’s faithfulness with someone you know struggles with unbelief.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Medicine for the Missionary

“All things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27)

Sovereign grace is the spring of life for the Christian Hedonist. For what the Christian Hedonist loves best is the experience of the sovereign grace of God filling him, and overflowing for the good of others.

Christian Hedonist missionaries love the experience of “not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). They bask in the truth that the fruit of their missionary labor is entirely of God (1 Corinthians 3:7; Romans 11:36).

They feel only gladness when the Master says, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). They leap like lambs over the truth that God has taken the impossible weight of new creation off their shoulders and put it on his own. Without begrudging, they say, “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” (2 Corinthians 3:5).

When they come home on furlough, nothing gives them more joy than to say to churches, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience” (Romans 15:18).

“All things are possible with God!” — in front the words give hope, and behind they give humility. They are the antidote to despair and the antidote to pride — the perfect missionary medicine.

John Piper